As technology in the gaming industry progresses, the traditional mechanically driven reel slot machines are being replaced with electronic counterparts having a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD) video displays or the like. These video/electronic gaming advancements enable the operation of more complex main games, which would not otherwise be possible on mechanical-driven gaming machines. Gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines are becoming increasingly popular. Part of the reason for their increased popularity is the nearly endless variety of main games that can be implemented on gaming machines utilizing advanced electronic technology.
There are a wide variety of associated devices that can be connected to video gaming machines such as a video slot machines and video poker machines. Some examples of these devices are lights, ticket printers, card readers, speakers, bill validators, ticket readers, coin acceptors, display panels, key pads, coin hoppers and button pads. Many of these devices are built into the gaming machine or components associated with the gaming machine such as a top box which usually sits on top of the gaming machine.
Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller (MGC), the gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a main game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play of the main game on the gaming machine. For example, the main game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. The gaming machine controls input devices, including bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognizes user inputs from devices, including key pads and button pads, to determine the wager amount and initiate game play of the main game. After game play of the main game has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome of the main game, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the main game.
However, a player may lose interest in playing the main game and may look for other sources of entertainment besides game play of the main game. Moreover, the gaming machine provides a limited amount of game interfaces that the player is exposed to.